Beats of the Heart
by Firestorm Studios
Summary: My completely changing Kingdom Hearts stories that are just too short to be oneshots! Different genres, subjects, and situations in each story! Rated T for language, sexual references and themes. Some OOC, some yaoi. Some may be AU later on, but not yet.
1. Sleeping Material

This story, originally called _Sleepless Nights_, has now been abandoned as having any kind of coherent story and is now simply a random short KH story collection. I've left the original author's notes at the end of chapter 1 though, because I was an idiot!

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN KINGDOM HEARTS OR IT'S CHARACTERS. THEY BELONG TO DISNEY AND SQUARE-ENIX. DITTO GOES FOR EVERY CHAPTER IN THIS STORY.

Beats of the Heart  
Chapter 1 – Sleeping Material

Sora flopped on to his bed. He, Donald and Goofy always were welcome in a house not far from the Restoration Committee base. The spiky-haired brunette didn't know why he was tired. He'd just slept for a whole year! Then again, most of the time he felt like going back to sleep after he woke up. The boy yawned loudly, then noticed Aerith as she walked in the door. Sora sat up.

"Oh, hey Aerith. What can I do for you?" Sora asked kindly, his eyes shining. Aerith couldn't help but notice a small growth of hair on Sora's legs, a more mature voice, more muscular than smooth on his stomach and chest, and the face of a teenager, complete with exhaustion bags under his eyes. He was growing. It was only then that Sora noticed that Aerith was wearing a pink silk nightgown. Sora blushed slightly.

"_Oh yeah, he's definitely growing._" Aerith thought as he pretended to not take any notice, but checked her out with stealthy eyes. Aerith unglued the boy's eyes to her by saying what she had come to say. "Leon wants to see you for a second." The pink-clad girl turned and left. Sora quickly hurried to Leon's house, just across the road, and knocked on the door. Leon quickly answered.

"Ah, Sora! Come in! It's cold out!" Sora hurried inside, out of the frigid cold, and sat down in an armchair. Leon walked up to him, and bent down so that he was at Sora's level. He looked in Sora's clear sapphire eyes, and held his hands. "Sora… I'm glad you're back. If anything goes wrong, do not hesitate to tell me. You need patching up, Aerith is here. If you need some extra muscle, you've always got Cloud, Cid and I. If you need advice, Merlin's been around for ages. Or if you want some pick-me-up enthusiasm, there's always Ms. Hyper-Ninja-Girl across the street."

A tear tugged at Sora's eye, as he thought of all Yuffie, and all his friends here, his home away from home. Leon wiped the tear away from his eye. "What's wrong?" He asked Sora. The distance between the two faces was so slim, you couldn't stick the blade of a knife through it. Sora sniffed back some tears. "I'm just… Glad to be back." He said. Leon brushed back a stray strand of chocolate hair behind Sora's ear. "Good. Let's keep it just to those kinds of tears." Leon said. "If anything happened to you, I don't know what I would do. Go now, get your rest." The older man kissed Sora on the forehead, and Sora left his house, retreating back to the house he shared with Donald and Goofy.

Sora looked in his dresser, and saw something left by Aerith while he was gone. Next to his cotton-wool nightshirt there was a white silk shirt and boxers with small Keyblades printed on them. There was a note from Aerith.

_Hey Sora,_

_Glad you're back! These pyjamas are a coming back gift from me – they're for the nights when your hide is a bit too thick, if you know what I mean!_

_Lots of love,_

_Aerith_

He looked around the house. He heard Goofy having a shower in the bathroom. He knocked on the door. "Goofy! Where's Donald?" The humanoid canine turned off the hot water. "He-uh, went to Merlin's house!" Sora nodded, and spoke back up to Goofy. "Thanks, Goofy. I'll see you in the morning – Don't you DARE use up all the hot water! You know I like a shower before fighting my ass off!" He heard Goofy laugh in his usual manner. "Don't worry Sora, I won't. You catch some sleep; I'll be up 'till Donald comes back!" Sora gave back one final okay before proceeding to his bedroom.

Sora got into his bed, at first snug in his normal pyjamas. But after 10 minutes of tossing and turning, his leg hairs irritating and producing surprisingly unbearable heat, he walked over to his dresser and picked out the new pyjamas, replacing the night tracksuit with the silk shirt and boxers with the little Keyblades on them. He then climbed back into bed and was asleep within seconds.

----- END OF CHAPTER 1

What did you think? It's slightly short… But it will get better and longer!

Next up: Yuffie hosts a slumber party, and Sora is deemed feminine enough to join! WTF?

Please read and review!!!


	2. Yuffie's Slumber Party

Beats of the Heart  
Chapter 2 - Yuffie's Slumber Party  
(A/N: This was originally a two-part chapter, back when the story was called _Sleepless Nights_)

As soon as the Gummi Ship had landed, Sora said hi to the gang and proceeded to the house while Donald and Goofy sent a message to the Queen at Disney Castle. Sora got dressed out of his special fighting garments and into a comfortable, casual red shirt and blue shorts.

Donald slouched through the doorway, followed by Goofy. Goofy sighed deeply and collapsed on Sora. Goofy only then noticed that the boy's eyes were staring right into his! Donald helped Goofy up, and they stared at Sora. The brunette was almost AS TALL as Goofy!

Sora was ever-so-slightly grumpy, and pushed Goofy off him, mumbling about something or other. He was very tired. He looked at his watch. It was only 2PM! Sora tried to get up, but Goofy pinned him again. "What's the big idea?" Sora asked Goofy. Donald pulled something out of his closet. It was rope.

"Ya see, Sora - Donald and I have been thinking… Over the past few days, you've been fighting too intensely, pushing yourself too hard, a-hyuck. Gwarsh, you're even refusing to rest. So we're gonna have to force you to rest." Goofy said to the boy beneath him.

"No way!" Sora protested. "I get plenty of rest!" Donald came in, and tied Sora's legs. Goofy lifted his body off Sora's, keeping his arms by his sides. He held Sora's arms there as Goofy lifted the brunette, allowing Donald to tie his arms to his torso. Sora struggled, but then Donald tied Sora's wrists together and gagged his mouth. Goofy picked Sora up, and took him into his room.

"You're not coming out until at least 5PM!" Donald quacked at him. Goofy laid him on his bed, and curled him up. "Have a good sleep." He said while Sora whimpered, half glared daggers, and half pouted. Goofy pulled up the covers, turned off the light, and closed the door. To Sora's surprise, he did fall asleep.

-- About 3:30 PM

"Fast asleep." Goofy reported from the half-hourly checks on the boy. Donald sat, sipping a cup of soup, and reading the Hollow Bastion newspaper. "Gwarsh!" Goofy burst out, upon seeing the headline.

**ONE-WINGED ANGEL SIGHTED IN HOLLOW BASTION**

_When Cloud Strife appeared in Hollow Bastion with Tifa Lockhart just under 20 years ago, a deity embodying Cloud's dark side surfaced. He called himself Sephiroth, going by the nickname of the One-Winged Angel, named after the one midnight-blue angel wing on his right shoulder blade. Even after Hollow Bastion was lost to the Heartless and we had to escape to Traverse Town, Sephiroth committed many atrocities, and Cloud was declared a public enemy, because Sephiroth struck where Cloud was._

_Cloud moved to Olympus Coliseum, where he took part in regular gladiatorial games, and sure enough, Sephiroth followed. When Cloud and Sephiroth last engaged, they disappeared in a flash of light, but a few days later Cloud returned to Hollow Bastion, apparently victorious, upon hearing that it was in the hands of the Restoration Committee._

_But even when everyone thought he was gone forever, a resident caught a glimpse of what appeared to be Sephiroth just over the abandoned castle. No accurate evidence has been found to support this, but the Restoration Committee advises all citizens to be on high guard. Any sightings of Sephiroth should be told to the Restoration Committee._

"_If Sephiroth is sighted, tell us immediately, for the safety of the entire population." That was all the Restoration Committee leader, Squall Leonhart ("that's Leon!") had to say. When Cloud Strife was asked to comment, he simply said, "This time I'll get him." We all hope so. We'll bring you more news on Sephiroth as it breaks._

"Horrible news isn't it?" Came a voice that made the two animals jump. Yuffie Kisaragi stood in the doorway, waving. "Hey, beast-human creatures. Can I borrow Sora?" She half-squealed excitedly.

"I'm sorry" Donald replied, "He's asleep in his room." Yuffie chuckled. "At 3:30PM? You guys must have raped him good."

Donald sat there, mouth hanging open, while Goofy scratched his head, trying to remember what rape means. Donald was about to protest furiously when Yuffie waved and said "Just kidding. Anyway, I have a slumber party with all the girls tonight and I was wondering if Sora wanted to come. Please give him the invitation when he wakes up! Thanks!" And she just skipped out of the doorway.

-- 5PM

The two went to wake Sora up. They couldn't let Sora sleep too long, or else he'd be up all night. On the way to his room, Donald quickly quacked to Goofy explaining what rape was and Goofy was completely shocked that Yuffie would say such a thing. They woke Sora up, untied him, and showed him the invitation. Sora groggily took the paper, and then was wide awake, his eyes getting wider and his mouth hanging lower as he read.

_Dear Sorette,_

_You have been totally invited to Yuffie's slumber party! That means you are so feminine enough to come! See you at 6, girlfriend!_

The weird thing is, Sora blushed.

Sora knocked on the door of Yuffie and Aerith's house. Yuffie greeted him enthusiastically, and Aerith clapped her hands together, smiling. Behind was a girl he hadn't seen before. She had long black hair, and wore a black leather outfit. She introduced herself as Tifa. Sora was quickly ushered inside.

"So, why am I here? I'm a guy." Sora said, while Yuffie made him sit down. Aerith piped up. "We saw you kiss Leon." At this, Sora jumped up, only to be forced back down by Tifa's surprisingly phenomenal strength. "He kissed me!" Sora exclaimed. "We didn't see you resist him" said Tifa calmly. Sora opened his mouth to protest, but was silenced by Tifa's hand covering his mouth.

"Just be quiet, homosexual." Yuffie said, as Tifa took her hand off. Sora nodded. He would prove that he wasn't gay. For now, he would humour them. It took to the end of the end of patience, however, to get past the first hurdle. They tested his patience from the first minute.

"Would you like some tea, Sorette?" Aerith, voice sickly sweet, asked him. "Yes, I would, thank you Aerith" Sora said, every word laced with poison. Tifa and Yuffie giggled wildly, pretending to drink their 'tea.' Sora took a sip and gagged, putting his cup down, and spitting out the tea impostor all over his chest and stomach. "Oh, it looks like Sorette spilt his tea." Aerith said, smiling evilly. "I guess we'll have to call Leon to lick it off."

"What is this stuff?" Sora asked, trying to ignore them. "Onion juice. With Tifa's home-made yellowy-brown food colouring." Sora went and got a drink of water.

A washing of the torso area and a clean shirt later, Sora sat down to the vigorously giggling girls. He had to stick to this plan, whatever they threw at him. "Okay," Aerith said, giggling. "We've all fought a lot of Heartless here…"

Sora stood up. "I've fought more Heartless than you! Check this out!" He pulled up his sleeve to reveal a big scar. "Shadow bite! Check this out!" He pulled up his shorts to reveal a massive gash on his leg. "Neoshadow claw ripped it wide open! Had to seal it with my own shoelaces!"

On the other side, Tifa stood up. "Yeah, big deal! Check this out!" She pulled up her shirt, revealing her stomach, and there was a great pink-red rectangle. "Hair straightener! Nicky Clark, hottest you can get! Fell asleep on it while I was drunk!" Sora jumped back in complete surprise. Tifa nodded, a half-grimace, half-smirk on her face.

"Ahem," Aerith said, "as I was saying, we've all fought a lot of heartless here, but Sora has fought the most." Sora nodded furiously. "So therefore, we thought it would be appropriate for you, Sorette (Sora began growling furiously), to get an appreciation gift."

The three girls turned to each other and nodded. "MAKEOVER!" They all screamed simultaneously. Sora froze, mortified - "Oh come on – the tea party was childish, but this is just stupid."

He quickly stopped and began making a futile effort to back away as the three girls advanced on him, all manner of cosmetics and styling fashion products in hand. He only succeeded in backing up against the wall, and began a doomed attempt to sink to the ground and cover what he could with his hands. Suddenly he was wrenched by Tifa's megahuman strength into a chair.

Tifa tied rope around his waist and stomach, so he couldn't get free. He glimpsed Aerith grabbing a bottle of nailpolish, and Yuffie sneaking up behind him with a comb. Aerith grabbed one of his legs, and began painting his toenails a hot pink.

"Time to tame this monstrosity." Yuffie said hungrily, waving a pair of nail scissors, a water-sprayer and her comb in her mouth. "First, to straighten it." Sora shook his head. "I don't advise you try." He said, and Yuffie began combing – only to find that the hair wouldn't budge, no matter how she pulled. She tried to spray Sora's hair with water, but there was no gel to loosen, and Sora's hair spiked back up less than a second after getting wet.

"Hmm…" Yuffie said, scratching her head, as Sora struggled to avoid Tifa placing a gag over his mouth, and Aerith adorning his fingernails with the same hot pink paint. Yuffie, after her scissors barely escaped from the chocolate hair mane of death, decided simply to decorate. She put a bunch of pink ribbons and bells in his hair. Aerith proceeded to put up a blue eyeliner, and puffed his cheeks with mascara. Afterwards they grabbed Sora, released him from the chair, and re-tied him. They laid him down on the ground and admired their handiwork.

"Great work, girls. Not a full transformation though." Aerith said.

"Yeah, it was all because Yuffie couldn't do his hair." Tifa said.

"Excuse me!" Yuffie piped, "You try it! It's like folded steel!"

"Now for the final phase of the plan." Aerith said. Sora widened his eyes in fear. Final phase? Tifa picked him up in one hand, and Aerith and Yuffie took his hands and arms. They walked across the streets and stopped outside Leon's house. They placed him on Leon's doorstep, rang his doorbell and quickly ran, looking though binoculars from opposite the street. Leon swung the door open, accidentally hitting Sora with the door. They saw Leon apologize profusely, look around to see if anyone was watching, picked Sora up in two hands and took him inside, Sora squirming furiously.

"Go, go, go!" Tifa hissed, and the three girls quietly ran up to a remote window of Leon's house. Aerith and Tifa looked through the small window.

"Ow!" Yuffie hissed. "That hurt, Aerith! I can't see anything!" Tifa didn't break her gaze from Sora and Leon, just used one of her hands to push Yuffie back.

Inside the house, Leon had a wet towel and was wiping the makeup off Sora's face. The ropes lay discarded on the floor, and Sora looked in physical pain, trying to tug the little bells and ribbons out of his hair.

"Let me do that." Leon said, and walked around so that he was facing Sora's back. Leon bent down, wrapped one arm around Sora's stomach, and his other hand began nimbly and gently removing the bells and ribbons from Sora's light brown hair.

Sora grunted as Leon's arm wrapped around his arm suddenly jerked back, pulling Sora closer to him in his chair.

Leon removed the last ribbon from Sora's hair, and began to move his hand upwards to Sora's armpits to lift him up, but his hands remained on Sora's chest for a bit.

Sora let out a soft whimper as Leon's strong hands lifted him up.

"Leon… Do you think I could have a shower?" Sora asked innocently, but the very thought of this sent Leon's hormone into overdrive.

"S…Sure." Leon mumbled quietly, and Sora jumped off and ran into the shower.

"Quick! Quick! Around to the shower, Tifa! Yuffie, you stay here, and keep an eye on Leon!" Aerith commanded, and the other two girls nodded.

Aerith and Tifa waited until the window was slightly fogged, but not fogged enough so that you couldn't see inside. The inside of the shower was well and truly fogged, but they were able to see a human-shaped, skin-colour blur, with a mass of brown spikes on top. Sora was sitting down, and one of the blurred boy's arms appeared to connect to… Between his legs.

"Is he doing… What I THINK he's doing?!" Aerith explained, and Tifa replaced her binoculars for a video camera. "This is GOLD!" Aerith squealed delightedly.

Suddenly, Yuffie came running up to them. "Leon covered up the window I was looking through. I had to… What the funk?!" She almost screamed, as she saw Sora's blurred shape.

"Damn straight. We got him now, girls – doing the dirty solo act over Squall Leonhart." Aerith grinned.

Suddenly the blur of Sora bucked his hips upward, and then slumped back down, spent.

"And I got it all on camera." Tifa said. Sora remained completely silent inside the shower, oblivious to his surroundings from his release.

Seconds later, Leon quietly opened the door, took Sora's shirt, and went back out. Sora didn't notice a thing, and the young male suddenly slumped against the side of the shower window, the side of his shoulder appearing. While one of his hands remained on his crotch, another lifted up and turned off the water.

"Somehow I don't think he got too 'clean' from that shower." Yuffie laughed. Suddenly they heard Sora moan. "Kairi…" He groaned, his other hand dropping from his privates.

Aerith, Yuffie and Tifa had dropped their binoculars and camera, and stood there, mouths wide open in shock.

Sora walked out of the shower, looking quite pleased with himself. He dried himself and put his shorts on, then walked out of the bathroom. The girls ran over to the other side, the last uncovered window.

"Where's my shirt?" Sora asked Leon. Leon simply shrugged, and Sora dropped his shoulders and walked straight out of the house, leaving a very upset and rejected Leon.

Aerith sighed in defeat. "Go." He said to Yuffie, and the ninja ran over to Sora.

"Hey Sora!" She chirped. "You're cleared of all charges. But don't forget, to us, you always will be… Sorette!" She was responded by the slamming of a door.

Aerith and Tifa looked from the scene back into Leon's window. Inside, Leon held Sora's 'lost' shirt, holding it to his face and breathing in Sora's scent deeply.

"Sora, taking a shower inside his house and emerging, spent and shirtless…" Aerith grinned with satisfaction through the binoculars.

"Yep. Tonight is gonna be the coldest shower of his life." Tifa said, satisfied.


	3. Unexpected Delays

Author's Note: After much deliberation and absolutely zero progress on the story in the years since its creation, I have decided to finally cancel what was _Alternate Kingdom Hearts_, which was formerly _Mushroom Kingdom Hearts_ before that whole Nintendo-only theme was abolished. This chapter and the two after it were Chapters 1-3 of that story, kept here for in thanks and adoration to anyone who may have enjoyed it - and on that note, I do plan to complete and post here the last chapter of that story I was working on (from way back when), somewhere down the line. Aside from that last niggle on my authoring conscience, I lament to say that there will be no planned further development on the story at all. I love you all who enjoyed the story and reviewed, and apologise endlessly if you were awaiting its continuation. Thank you so, so much, and enjoy!

Beats of the Heart  
Chapter 3 - Unexpected Delays

A few days after Sora and co. received the King's letter…

"Everyone ready to go?" Sora asked Kairi, Riku, Donald and Goofy.

Donald and Goofy gave the thumbs-up, Riku nodded, and Kairi brushed her hair back with her hand and nodded. "The King calls for our aid!" Donald said. "We have to get there quickly!"

Sora nodded and the group began running toward their Gummi Ship. Just as Sora neared the ramp, a man in an Organization XIII coat appeared and snapped his fingers.

A portal opened up behind the group, and Kairi fell through. Riku reached for Kairi's hand and caught it, only for him to topple in alongside her. The two fell into the portal, and seconds later the portal closed.

Sora, Donald and Goofy readied their weapons. "Really, Sora? Is that a proper way to greet an old friend?" The hooded figure said to the boy. Sora winced. That voice… But it was impossible…

"You do remember! You surely remember Axel!" The man said, taking off his hood to indeed reveal the red-haired Flurry of Dancing Flames, Axel.

Sora hesitated, than re-tightened his grip around his Keyblade and spoke. "Where did you put Riku and Kairi?"

Axel grinned evilly. "Flames… You know that my abilities… Run off flames. You've been able to defeat my flames. Both of you – you and Roxas. Speaking of Roxas, can I speak with him?

Sora heard Roxas' voice inside his head. _"__Sora, this isn't Axel.__"_

Sora growled, his hands gripped tighter about his Keyblade. "Where are they, Axel?"

Axel held his hands out, and two stands of fire wove around his hands, until his chakrams appeared in his hands amongst a blur of fire. "Ooh, Sora's angry. I'm so scared."

Sora was **not** in the mood to be taunted, let alone by a dead nobody with chakrams in his hands. Axel charged forward, his chakrams slicing the air. Sora swung with the Kingdom Key and blocked both of them. Axel did a confident smirk and set his weapons on fire. Axel lunged, and moved gracefully around, using crazy movements to intimidate Sora. Sora could only block Axel's blazing wheels of fire.

"What's the matter? A bit HOT?" Axel yelled, creating a circle of fire around them. Sora tried to charge the man, but his teenage body succumbed to the heat and fell to the sand. Roxas was right. This wasn't Axel. This man was too strong to be Axel. The man calling himself Axel walked over to the brunette, who was not-quite unconscious, and picked him up by the collar of his shirt.

"I expected more from the Keyblade master." He said, his voice changing, with his hair getting shorter up the back, and a large spike of blue-grey hair obscured one of his eyes. It was none other than No. 6 in the Organization, Zexion.

"Who… Who are you?" The sapphire-eyed brunette asked, not recognizing the man.

"My name… You could say I am nobody. And now that is truer than ever."

Sora reared up his legs and kicked Zexion in the chest. Zexion doubled over and let go, releasing Sora from his grip. Sora rolled on the sand, but got up to his feet and summoned his Keyblade. "Zexion? I thought Riku defeated you."

"Perhaps so. But think about the others. Xemnas, Xigbar, Xaldin, Saix, Luxord, Larxene, Marluxia, and Demyx – all killed by you. Lexaeus and I fell to Riku, while Vexen was struck down by Axel. But as it appears, we can only be defeated… By the master of light." Zexion smirked. Suddenly two portals opened, and out of them stood the other two Sora hadn't defeated: Vexen and Lexaeus.

"Zexion!" Lexaeus roared. "Time grows short! We must depart!"

"Yes." Vexen said, hefting his ice-shield. "The omnipotent waits for us to begin the plan."

Zexion nodded at the Chilly Academic and the Silent Hero, then turned to Sora, Donald, and Goofy. "Do you want to find your friends?" He asked, and Sora gave him a look of death. "Then take this." Zexion said, throwing a card in Sora's direction. Sora looked at the card. It had an image of a mushroom with red and white spots on it, and the mushroom appeared to have two black dots for eyes.

"Where does this lead?" Sora asked. Zexion raised both of his eyebrows with a smirk, and the three resurrected Organization members summoned and disappeared through portals. "Wait!" Sora yelled, running to the portals and slashing at them, but it was too late. Donald and Goofy ran over to him. Sora showed them the card, and simply said, "I have to go."

Goofy looked at the card. "Gwarsh, I don't know. It could be a trap by those organization fellas."

"We have no choice but to go!" Donald scowled at Goofy. "The King needs the three key-bearers there to respond!"

Sora nodded, and threw the card on the ground. He pointed the Keyblade at it, and activated its unlocking power. Suddenly the ground opened beneath them, and they were falling, falling, falling.

-a-

"Sora!" Donald nudged Sora awake. Sora looked up to see Donald, Goofy, and a moustached, brown-haired man with a red shirt and blue overalls and a cap with an M on it staring down at it. He sat up and looked at himself. He was wearing a slightly larger-sized version of the clothes he wore on his first adventures. Sora stood up and looked around, observing the rolling hills around them.

"Where... are we?" Sora asked.


	4. The Mushroom Kingdom

Author's Note: Originally Chapter 2 of the abandoned _Alternate Kingdom Hearts_, originally _Mushroom Kingdom Hearts_, annexed into _Beats of the Heart_ following the cancellation of AKH. See the Author's Note in Chapter 3 of this story for details. Thank you, and enjoy!

Beats of the Heart  
Chapter 4 – The Mushroom Kingdom

Sora remembered Zexion, and the card, and falling into this dimension, but… Who was this short, overall-clad man in front of him?

"Who are you?" Sora asked him, brushing dirt off his red one-piece shirt/shorts.

"Hi, I'm-a Mario, it's-a nice to meet you." Mario said, holding out his hand. Sora shook it, and Mario grabbed his hand and started walking. Sora was surprised by his strength – Mario was almost pulling him, and he was quite a bit taller than Mario.

"What's going on?" Sora asked.

"The Princess, her highness Princess Peach, has announced everyone to report to her if anything that could be related to the Heartless. You're from another world, so we thought-a you might know something."

"The Heartless?"

Sora and Mario's conversation was cut short, as several of the Shadow Heartless came out of the ground. Mario darted forward, jumping on a Heartless' head, and then throwing a fireball at another. The Shadows charged at Sora. Sora's rage grew, these black creatures impeding his progress. He surged with pure hatred, and batted seven of them away from him with one swing of the Keyblade. Donald and Goofy jumped back in surprise, and Sora charged forth, slaying a great many of them in just two swings.

Donald and Goofy reared back in fear. Sora swung around and growled at them, his eyes glowing yellow. His sense were dulled and enraged, and he felt nothing but sheer anger. Suddenly his eyes went back to their pure blue, and he almost fell over, but he steadied himself by leaning on his Keyblade. Mario approached them again. "This-a way." He announced.

Shortly they arrived at a castle that almost rivalled Disney Castle. Two odd, short, and almost human-like creatures with blue jackets and a giant mushroom sprouting from their heads guarded the doors. Mario approached the two guards, both of them carrying nasty-looking poleaxes. He spoke to them, Sora only catching the words "Heartless" and "Princess" the two guards immediately saluted and opened the gate. Mario gestured for them to come through. They entered the castle, went up a flight of stairs, and Mario opened a wide and tall door to enter a magnificent throne room. Light poured in from the windows and many beautiful red spots on the ground due to light coming through the stunning stained glass windows.

A beautiful blonde princess, wrapped in a pink dress, sat on her throne signing a document until Mario kneeled in front of her. She stood up.

"Ah, Mario. You're here."

Mario bowed deeply and then rose. "Your highness Princess-a Peach. I have-a brought someone who knows how to stop the Heartless."

Peach's eyes brightened. "Really?"

Sora stepped forward. "Yes. I come from another world... And I know a thing or two. Usually, a Heartless' appearance is due to being manipulated by a person. We must stop the centre stones of the Heartless. On each world in this universe, there is one who doesn't quite control the heartless exactly, but is responsible for their appearance."

Princess Peach stepped down from her throne. "How exactly do you know this?"

Sora stepped forward to her, but two of the creatures blocked his path, lowering their poleaxes at him. Princess Peach simply flicked her hands in a certain manner, and they were at ease. "Never mind the Toads. That's what they call themselves." She said, then gave 'continue' motion. Sora nodded, and continued saying what he was going to say.

"Just before, when myself, my companions and Mario were ambushed by Heartless, I entered a fit of rage that I've never quite experienced before and all of this just… sparked in my head."

A toad ran into the room. "Princess! Mario! The Heartless are attacking the castle… And Bowser's at the front! Mario yelled to the two guards, "Defend-a the Princess!" He, Sora, Donald and Goofy ran out of the throne room.

"Bowser?" Sora had to ask Mario. Mario shook his head. "King of the Koopa turtles, little demons. He must-a be the central person you-a were talking about!"

"Yeah!" Sora said. "Let's go!"

A force of Toads battled the heartless, but were falling, even after killing three times their own number. Sora summoned the Kingdom Key, then swinging it and destroying several of the Heartless. Donald concentrated his magic, destroying several Heartless with a blast of ice. Goofy hit several Heartless away with his shield.

Sora went into a mysterious rage again, slaughtering them in his path. Toads backed away from him cautiously as dove, Keyblade-first, into a new pile of the black beasts. However, even this berserk Sora, pulled out of the pile screaming, with Heartless clawing at his skin. Donald and Goofy rushed forward, but when they approached Sora, he was still in a rage despite Heartless crawling over his body. He flailed wildly, flinging Heartless off him. One Heartless, a single shadow, took a firm grip at his chest and prepared to strike.

"Donald, use some magic!" Goofy yelled, trying to get closer to Sora, only to be hit back by a flailing strike. "I can't!" Donald yelled. "I might hit Sora!" Sora stopped flailing and tried to use his hands to physically tear the Shadow off him. He tugged at it, but it etched closer to his heart, undaunted. Donald aimed at the Heartless, closed his eyes, and yelled. "FIRE!" He yelled, and a fireball emitted from his staff. Sora felt it singe some of his hair as it zoomed past his ear.

Donald fired again, this time directly hitting one of Sora's hands. Sora howled in utter agony, an excruciating burn developing. Nonetheless, Donald tried one more time. He shot a fireball, and the Heartless burst into flame just as it raised its claw to strike Sora's heart.

Sora, exhausted, fell to the ground. The last wave of Heartless charged at the worn-out body. "PROTECT SORA!" A Toad yelled out. A small wall of Toads stabbed and slashed at the Heartless. Donald rushed to Sora's side as Goofy helped the Toads fight off the last wave.

"Cure!" Donald said, pointing his staff at Sora. The boy's skin sealed back together, and bruises went back to Sora's usual slightly-tanned skin. He got up, and began helping out the Toads, but this time not in a rage. When the last Heartless was slain, they let out a loud cheer of victory.

But something large fell from the sky, and breathed fire, knocking out a Toad. Sora, Donald, Goofy and Mario, who had been fighting inside the castle, looked at it. It was a massive turtle, standing on two legs. It had a tuft of orange spiky hair atop it's yellow, almost dragon-looking face. It had a great green shell, with deadly sharp spikes protruding from it. Sora could see that the turtle's claws, hind and forelegs, were very sharp indeed.

"Bowser!" Mario yelled, charging. "Let's go!" Sora yelled to Donald and Goofy. The three charged at Bowser. Mario jumped up and began hitting Bowser in the head, occasionally, his fists burst into flame and he pounded the beast with them. Bowser swatted Mario away, and breathed fire at the three. Goofy blocked with his shield. Donald tried to attack him with a lightning, but Bowser quickly retreated inside his shell.

Sora gave the shell a few quick hits, but jumped away when he remembered the spikes. The furious Mario came back. Bowser exited his shell to engage, and let loose a large stream of fire at Mario. Mario dived to the ground and skidded underneath Bowser. He jumped up at Bowser from underneath, the two flying up. Bowser quickly realized that Mario would win a mid-air fight, simply grabbed hold of the much-smaller Mario and held the plumber underneath him as they began to fall.

"No!" Sora yelled, and jumped. He jumped just short of the falling archenemies. "Grab on!" He yelled to Mario, holding out the Kingdom Key. Mario grabbed hold and the two combined their strength and wriggled free of Bowser. "Let me handle this!" Sora said to Mario as they touched down safely and Bowser crashed down. Sora jumped in to fight the enormous turtle and then swung at its shell. "It's no good!" He yelled back to the three. "The shell is his weak spot, but I can't break it!" Donald and Goofy nodded, attacking Bowser with what they had, like the fleas on the elephant's back.

"You will pay… For trying to stop ME!" Bowser roared, slashing both of them with a colossal swipe. Stars revolved around their head – out of the fight. Mario jumped in to help Sora. Mario leapt high in the air, and his body was engulfed by flame. Sora skidded back. If Mario's attack failed, they had no chance. Mario dived down like a meteor, a great metal fist closed around his hand, burning more intensely than anything Axel had been able to produce. With an ear-splitting CRASH, Mario impacted with Bowser, creating an explosion. As the dust cleared, Mario was suspended above Bowser, his fist still keeping him up. Bowser's shell didn't even have a crack in it.

Bowser laughed a deep, confident laugh. "If it's fire you want," Bowser said, grabbing the hero with a massive claw and holding him in front of his face, "then take all you want!" He laughed, breathing a stream of incredible flame at Mario. Mario dropped to the ground, stars around his head. Bowser turned, noticing Sora. Sora held his Keyblade defensively in front of him, but knew he had no chance. He's lost all of his skills, and even his special drive-form combat gear when he came through the portal.

"_You'd give up that easily?_" Said a voice inside his head. But this voice was not Roxas. This voice was much more beautiful, like pure joy to Sora's ears. It could only be Kairi. "Kairi? Is that you?" Sora asked out loud. He heard Kairi give a small chuckle, and then she echoed in his mind again. "_Let me give you some incentive_." He felt the warm feeling of Kairi's presence leaving him slowly. Sora tried to hold on to it as if it were his life, but it slipped through. He felt cold dread again as Bowser approached him, slow and intimidating.

But newfound courage coursed through him. Kairi was alive. "Kairi!" He yelled as if she could hear him. "I'll come back to you! I promise!" The warm feeling gathered around Sora's arm, and interacted with the Keyblade. With a flash of blue light, the Kingdom Key became the Oathkeeper.

Sora ran straight at Bowser. Memories of his spells and skills came flooding back. Everything became reflexes again – using Reflega as Bowser's fire threatened to engulf him, using Curaga as a claw tore the skin on his shoulder. After an unsuccessful strike at the monster's head, he got an idea. Sora kneeled down and held out his hand. Bowser looked confused for a moment, but then lashed down to chomp off Sora's hand. Sora quickly withdrew his hand and jumped on top of the beast's head as it bit where his hand had previously been.

Bowser, being surprisingly flexible for a creature of his girth, used his forearms to support, and then flung his own spike-ridden back at Sora. Sora gave a slash, and the sharp blades of the Oathkeeper dented the monstrous spikes. Bowser gave a roar in pain, and flung Sora off. Bowser roared again at Sora, and let loose with a burst of flame. Sora, inside his Reflega spell, saw his target: Bowser's mouth was wide open.

He thrust his Keyblade straight into Bowser's mouth, his strike perfect. The fire seared the flesh on his arm, but he wouldn't stop. The Oathkeeper sliced through, and the other end of the Keyblade emerged at the top of his snout, stabbed right through. Bowser howled, roaring and flailing, but not taking the Keyblade out.

"Allow me." Sora said, summoning back the Oathkeeper. Suddenly, darkness poured from the beast, and dissipated into nothingness as Bowser, then fell to the ground, completely incapacitated. The Heartless vaporised, and Bowser stood again, clutching his wounded nose. He growled and ran away with the last of his Koopa troops, leaving his dark presence lying dead in the air. Sora looked from the dead creature to his Keyblade, dripping with blood.

"Thanks, Kairi."

- The next day

Princess Peach awarded the three with Medals, for saving the Kingdom. Shining gold with the mushroom on them. Mario had many already. But then a toad ran through, disrupting the ceremony.

"Calm down." Mario said. "What is it?" Princess Peach asked. The Toad caught his breath and looked up at them. "Look at this!" He said, the princess reading, her face growing more grim as she read.

"It seems that the Heartless have attacked one of our allies – the Kingdom of Hyrule is on the verge of defeat at the hands of the…" She checked to see if she'd read the letter correctly. "The Heartless… Invincibles." She looked at Sora, and pulled out a card, the same type as the one which had transported him here. "Sora! You must help them!" She said giving Sora the card. The card had a picture of three triangles stacked in a pyramid fashion.

The group awaited Sora's decision as he examined the card.

"Invincibles." He said, looking up at the group, Donald and Goofy at his side. "Their name is begging to be checked..."


	5. Hyrule

Author's Note: Originally Chapter 3 of the abandoned _Alternate Kingdom Hearts_, originally _Mushroom Kingdom Hearts_, annexed into _Beats of the Heart_ following the cancellation of AKH. See the Author's Note in Chapter 3 of this story for details. Thank you, and enjoy!

Beats of the Heart  
Chapter 5 - Hyrule

Mario, Peach and a crack unit of Toads led them to a cave. Inside, there were many gold-yellow swirling portals. Inside one of them were the three stacked triangles that were on his card. He knew how this worked. He held the card up, and the portal shone – turning green. Sora walked in, and motioned for Donald and Goofy to follow. They began to walk towards the portal, but instead simply got bounced back.

Sora noticed that the portal was turning yellow again, very quickly. "Donald! Goofy!" He yelled, holding his hand out. They tried to grab it, but he got sucked in to the swirling portal and lost sight of his friends.

-a-

A elf-eared warrior, clad in green, tiptoed silently down a hill, silent as the wind. He fitted an arrow to his bow, and aimed at the shades of black below. Heartless Neoshadows stood there, each one clad in silver armour and armed with a black katana. These were the Heartless Invincibles.

He loaded two or three more arrows to the string, and fired them, piercing the almost unexposed back of the Invincible. The clattering of the falling armour they were wearing made the Invincibles jump and quickly turn around, alert. Link jumped out, his Master Sword easily cleaving the armour of the Heartless. He killed another by slashing it, and the last one drew it's sword. Link clashed swords with it, and lashed out with a purple hookshot from his belt. He fired it, piercing the enemy's stomach. He then retracted the deadly hook, and the Heartless Invincible dissolved.

Link felt a rumbling in the ground beneath, and quickly threw about 6 inactive gunpowder bombs onto the ground. The Invincibles charged at him, intent on killing him. He quickly set six arrows to the string of his bow, set them alight with magic, space each arrow on a different part of the line, turned the bow horizontal, and let fly. The force of about thirty-five Invincibles cared not for the arrows; six deaths was a minor loss - they kept pressing forward, and the flaming arrows drifted toward the ground.

With an almighty crack of the rubber exterior piercing, the bombs exploded, sending incredible amounts of fire and earth skyward. The earth fell again, the dust cleared, and there were only three left. He shot one with an arrow, and proceeded to jump forward and slash the last two with his sword. Link sheathed his Master Sword and began walking back.

He knew that this small victory would do nothing against the full force of these Heartless. They had invaded Hyrule, and quickly taken the smaller villages. He had managed to save the Triforce, three almighty triangles which held the balance of the world, but he and the soldiers of Hyrule had failed to save hundreds of innocent lives. He had gotten what he came for – a weapon which would apparently would help 'The One of Heart' to defeat the Heartless and restore the lives of those who had fallen. Now he had to head back to Hyrule Castle, to prepare for the siege that was inevitably coming.

In his thoughts, Link was ambushed by a group of tiny shadow Heartless. He quickly drew his Master Sword and killed two, but then a small force of them charged his back, making him fall to the ground. Two Neoshadows rose from the ground, grabbed him, and flipped him around. An Invincible rose up, and prepared to strike his katana into Link's heart.

Then, a blade ran across the heartless, and all but a single shadow exploded, a number of captive hearts rising to the sky. The shadow stumbled, dazed, then was killed by the blade stabbing into it from above. It was shaped like an 8-sided star, with a heart looped around it. Two lines of metal linked the blades to an enclosed handle with spikes adorning its edge.

The person holding it was a young-looking boy, wearing a zip up red jumpsuit with baggy shorts, a loose purple belt, a small white and blue jacket, and the biggest shoes that Link had ever seen, yellow and black. He had blonde-brown incredibly spiky hair, and a goofy grin on his face. The boy held out his hand, and Link took it, getting to his feet. The boy was shorter than him. "Thanks. Name's Link."

"No problem. My name's Sora." The two shook hands, and Link suddenly had a charge of thought. "_What if this boy… Is the One of Heart?_"

Link quickly grabbed his arm and held the Master Sword to his chest. The boy looked surprised. "You can't be the One of Heart." Link said. "The one of heart is said to be a warrior with great strengths. No great warrior would drop his guard so easily-" Then Link was aware of something poking into his back – One of the eight blades on the Oathkeeper Keyblade dug into his back. Sora smirked.

-b-

Link pushed open the door to the Castle of Hyrule. Inside, a regally-dressed brunette woman clad in pink quickly ran toward Link. "Did you find it?" She asked. Link pulled out a sword with a purple, rounded handle which went up into a straight blade with symmetrical indents up the blade. The end of the blade split in three directions: Out facing forward was a powerful, T-shaped blade, stretching behind it was a thin and wise rapier tip, and the top had a standard, courageous sword ending. The symbol dangling from the keychain at the bottom of the handle was three triangles, stacked in a larger triangle formation. Sora instantly recognized the weapon.

"Hey! That's a Keyblade!" Sora exclaimed, pointing at it.

Link turned around. "Sora, please show respect in the presence of the Princess Zelda!"

Zelda walked forward and placed her arm in front of Link, signalling for him to stop rounding on Sora. He stopped immediately. "Peace, Link. Sora here is not a citizen of Hyrule, and thus does not have to bow to me." Link nodded.

Sora hastily bowed. "No-no, the mistake was mine, I did not realize-"

Zelda stopped him by walking up and placing her index finger on his lips. "You do not have to bow to me, One of Heart." She said, bowing low, and indicating Link and the others to do the same. They did, leaving a very stunned yet flattered Sora.

Suddenly a soldier limped inside the open doors of the castle. Link rushed over to his side, Zelda drew two long swords, and Sora summoned both Kingdom Key and Oathkeeper. The soldier of Hyrule was barely breathing. "The last town… burnt. everyone… dead…. but me." He breathed, then his eyes went wide, and went limp in Link's arms. Link turned to the group, and shook his head.

An explosion and screams were heard from outside, and about four hundred soldiers ran in from the upper levels. Link drew his Master Sword – Zelda stood there, thin swords at the ready – and Sora waited, both Keyblades pointing forward. The doors blew open with a massive explosive force. The battle for Hyrule had begun.

Heartless Invincibles burst through the door, flailing claws wildly. Immediately, Sora rolled across the ground, and lashed out with the Oathkeeper, slicing down three of them. Link himself launched at the Neoshadows, throwing his sword at the Heartless, and then slashing with his golden claw. The Hyrule soldiers began fighting the Heartless, exchanging kills.

Then, an almighty blade swept through mid-air. It was shaped like the letter T, silver and brown, and the wielder himself was a colossal man. He wore a black leather suit, with all manner of brown fur and silver and gold trinkets all over. He had short, spiky orange hair, and his tanned, almost green skin, was rough and defined.

"Ganondorf!" Link growled, and leapt at the man. Ganondorf grinned, and defended himself with his cleaver-like blade. Ganondorf lunged not at Link, but at Sora.

"One of Heart…" He growled, picking up Sora with one hand by the stomach. "Join me, and you will share my strength… The glory of the Triforce of Power!" He growled, showing Sora the back of his fist – on it was the three gold triangle pyramid pattern. Suddenly, Ganondorf had to defend himself as Zelda charged at him, forcing the man back.

"Don't listen to him, Sora!" She told him. "His Triforce is nothing but brutality and murder in his hands! I have the Triforce of Wisdom, and Link has Courage! Follow the right path!"

Link joined in the assault, fighting down the beastly man. "Sora! Take it!" He yelled, throwing the Keyblade he had found to Sora. Sora took the Glory of Courage in his hand, and ran up to fight the Heartless.

"Don't!" A soldier yelled at him. "We've got these things – help Princess Zelda and Link!"

Sora turned to the two, to find Zelda on the ground and Link continuing to fight valiantly against Ganondorf. "Please… save Link. Ganondorf is far stronger…" Zelda said.

"Forget it, boy!" Ganondorf roared, throwing back Link. "You cannot face me now that I have the force of the Heartless by my side!"

Link readied his Master Sword, even though he knew Ganondorf was right - Ganondorf dealt a colossal blow and the Master Sword was knocked from Link's hands. As Ganondorf raised his blade for a final blow, Sora's golden Keyblade blocked the massive man's broadsword.

"I'd much rather have the Courage to save my friends and the Wisdom to know how to protect them… than have the brute force required to conquer!" Sora yelled back, and Ganondorf responded by kicking Sora in the stomach.

The kick would have sent any normal man flying, but Ganondorf looked and saw something different. Sora's clothes suddenly has a darker tinge to them, and his eyes glowed yellow. Ganondorf retreated in apprehension as Sora pushed back his blade.

Sora lifted Ganondorf by his chest, and stuck the Glory of Courage right through the man. Ganondorf sputtered a laugh, and looked down at Sora. "The aura of darkness on you eclipses your other senses… including the values you treasure so much, the people you love… be careful, or someday... One of us Heartless centre-stones may be able to control you. I look forward to that day." He said, and suddenly was engulfed in darkness, and disappeared. Around them, the Heartless burst into thin air.

Link and Zelda got to their feet. "Sora, can you use the Keyblade to restore life to those who have been lost?" Link asked. "Our prophecy says that in these worlds to which he is foreign, the One of Heart has gifts of life beyond imagining."

Sora, who was now back to normal, felt he had the power to do this – in fact, he didn't know how, but he knew that he could. He held up his Keyblade. He felt power rush through him, and the skill he needed was there - but nothing happened. He felt darkness, as if covering the world of Hyrule. "I'm sorry… Something's blocking it." He said.

"Ganon…" Link growled. "I will deal with the threat. Sora, go to this world. There, I fear, the Heartless may endanger many a kingdom." Link handed him another portal card, this one has the outline of a sword on it. Sora nodded, and suddenly Zelda put her hand on his shoulder.

"Just be careful." She said to the brunette boy, and Sora nodded, then laughed.

"Link, as soon as you've dealt with Ganon, my Keyblade will react to the Triforce... And restore the lost." He said, and threw the card on the ground, then fired the Keyblade's thin beam of light at it. Sora was engulfed in light, and felt himself falling through space.


End file.
